A Song of Ice, Fire and Shadow
by MayaTheSleepiest
Summary: As is said in the old texts of Founderism, once there were 4 Familiars of Brimir. What is lesser known... is that there were other familiars, symbolizing absolute dominion over each element of Ice, Fire, Earth, Wind and Void. These familiars were not human, nor animal... no, they were something more... otherworldly. Something... Alien.
1. Chapter 1

_H-hello. My name is Maya. This is my first fanfic so I hope you will all go easy on me. I hope whoever is reading this enjoys themselves with this fic._

 _Anyhow, enjoy~_

Chapter 1: The Coldest Ice

The Springtime Familiar Summoning Ritual.

This event was an important event at Tristain's Academy of Magic. It was the event where the students could summon their very own Familiar, be it a mundane animal or a creature of magic, like a Dragon or a Manticore or even a Salamander.

Most students would be fidgeting in place, excited looks upon their faces as they wait to be called out by the teacher so they can begin their summoning.

Tabitha was not like most students.

She kept a cold, blank look on her face. Never once showing emotion of any kind. Her lips, her brow, her line of sight, all was in a mostly horizontally flat line, with the tiniest hint of going downwards.

Most students barely paid any attention to her, due to how she always keeps to herself and spends most of her time reading her books. Those that do pay attention know that she's a bookworm, she's stoic and says less than three words per sentence when replying to a question asked by another student.

"Quite exciting isn't it Tabitha? Being able to summon our own personal familiars like this."

Her best friend is no exception.

Tabitha let her eyes glance ever so slightly to the girl sitting next to her, a busty and tan skinned red head by the name of Kirche von Zerbst. A noble from the well-known Zerbst family of Germania. Known for producing very attractive women and fire mages.

Kirche was a typical Zerbst. She was haughty, attractive, cheerful, a good fire mage and had beautiful long red hair.

Oh, and like most Zerbst women, she had no qualms with using her body to get what she wanted. The amount of boys she's bedded in school was ridiculous. Ridiculous enough that Tabitha, as observant a girl as she is, has somehow lost count.

There's a saying somewhere about Zerbst women. 'The chances of finding a Zerbst who is a virgin is slimmer than finding a user of Void magic.'

"Taaabithaaa, you're ignooooring me~"

Tabitha glanced at Kirche again before turning back to her book with nothing more than a "Hn.".

"So cold Tabitha. As interesting as that book must be, the least you could do is answer me." Kirche pouted playfully.

"Summoning soon. Conserving energy." Was the quiet and monotone reply.

"Wait, are you saying that talking to me takes too much effort?"

"Hn."

"Ouch, that's cruel."

This was their daily routine.

Eventually, Tabitha's ears quirked a bit as she heard the teacher call her name. She snaps her tome shut and puts it down before walking towards the summoning circle, barely acknowledging Kirche's hoots of morale boosting.

"You can do it Tabby!"

Of course she could, she's the perfect student. And a triangle class Ice mage to boot. If she couldn't do a simple summoning then she'd eat her own book.

As she stood in front of the summoning array, she slowly lifted her wand and began quietly chanting the summoning spell.

 _"Hear me out, oh familiar spirit. Guardian being and partner for life. Heed this summoning and answer me. I wish to summon a being that matches my soul, a partner who will guard my back and a servant who will obey my orders."_

As she chanted the words, the summoning circle lit up slowly, glowing a brilliant blue. Tabitha's eyes were shut in concentration as she chanted, her brow furrowed as her voice slowly became louder. Wind began to howl as her uniform's cloak and skirt began to ruffle in the wind. Her glasses reflected the bright light from the array as she began finishing the chant.

 _"If such a being exists, somewhere out there in there universe... then answer this call."_

With that, a flash of light erupted from the summoning array.

And then the temperature plummeted.

As soon as the light died down, a cold mist began permeating the area, smoke still rising from the array as the familiar inside it was shrouded from view. The students began to shiver as they hugged their cloaks to their bodies. Kirche simply lit a fireball on the tip of her wand and used it to warm herself as she stared at Tabitha in curiosity. What on earth did she summon to make such a change in the place's temperature?

Her answer came in the form of the sound of raspy breathing and shuffling.

Tabitha stood there stoically as she watched something approach from the smoke. By now the mist was absurdly thick, she couldn't even see the ground anymore. Her glasses were clear though, she had enchanted it so it wouldn't fog up in cold temperatures.

Slowly, a tall figure began breaking through the mist. It was incredibly tall, much taller than herself and any of the students here. It was most likely about eight feet tall, maybe more. She could hear its slow and raspy breathing and the slow and the sound of something brushing together, making a small shuffling noise. Cloth? Hair?

Then the being's figure broke the mist and she felt her breath catch in her throat.

It was a strange being indeed. Its body was covered head to toe in some kind of blue fabric, forming a peculiar set of robes. The material covered its head like a hood and wrapped around its body like a poncho, leaving only the face, neck, hands and feet bare.

Its face was intimidating, a pair of large green insectoid eyes, glowing dully in the mist and a lipless mouth full of large teeth. Its skin was coal black, resembling some kind of chitin.

Its arms and legs were thin, almost spindly. Its hands had only three pointed fingers and a thumb on each hand. Its feet, barely visible in the mist, had two toes, almost like talons of a bird with a third toe-like extension on its ankle. Its knuckles, forearm, legs and the top of its feet had some kind of light blue plating, almost like a cross between chitin and ice. This plating was also visible on its cheeks, like a tribal tattoo.

This... Creature... was humanoid, but was something far beyond anything she could have imagined summoning. It was powerful, she could tell from how its mere presence changed the very temperature of the area and the sheer intimidation she felt from looking into its eyes. She's never been intimidated by any creature, she's stared death in the face and didn't even flinch and yet this creature is making her break into cold sweat just from staring at her.

"...who... are you..?"

With that, Tabitha let her guard drop as her jaw dropped with it.

This thing was intelligent.

"...Tabitha. My name is Tabitha." she answered quietly. The hooded creature tilted its head at her, almost calculatingly as it slowly hunched over to bring its head to her level. It stared at her in the eyes for several seconds before exhaling slowly, its breath creating frost on Tabitha's glasses somehow, much to her shock.

Yet to her credit, she didn't even so much as blink.

"Your... eyes... are cold..." the being said softly, raising its left hand and gently tilting down Tabitha's glasses to reveal her azure eyes. "They are... ice... you... are ice..."

Tabitha knew what the being meant. Many people have commented behind her back that her eyes looked dull, almost lifeless. They have been like that ever since her mother went insane and the bastard king of Gallia began sending her out on suicide missions. The light called innocence hadn't existed in Tabitha's eyes in a long, long time.

"You... intrigue me... I... will follow you..." the creature said as it let its hands drop to its sides and it knelt in submission, its head bowed. The mist around the area began to thin, allowing the students to see what on earth Tabitha just summoned. All they heard were the murmurs of the being and Tabitha's equally quiet replies. Now that they could see the creature, they began whispering to each other in shock and excitement.

Kirche had her eyes wide full of pride and awe. "That's my Tabitha, look at that thing! Tabby, did you just summon an elemental?"

The bluenette did not reply and instead opted to finishing the contract as she waved her wand slowly, muttering the chant before gently pressing her lips to the creature's forehead, causing it to shift slightly in surprise, a strange light blue tint coloring where its nose was supposed to be before it faded. As it stood up to its full height, the students felt a bit of fear at how imposing it looked. Hooded, dark and standing little over eight feet, it was like a specter of death.

Suddenly it flinched and began to hiss, a horrible noise sounding like a mixture of a snake's hiss and the howl of a wraith as bright blue lights began etching themselves on its forehead, becoming a complex array of runes burned into its chitin. As soon as the runes died down, the being shook itself a little and visibly let its shoulders sag in relief. Apparently the runes etching themselves in its skin was quite a painful experience.

The familiar of Ice turned its head down to stare at its new master. The diminutive blue haired bookworm simply said one word.

"Name?"

And the being's mouth curved upwards a tiny bit, somehow smiling.

"Alcorzar."

 _S-so yeah. That's the first chapter. I-In case you couldn't tell, Tabitha just summoned a Necrofriggian from the Ben Ten universe._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Hottest Flame.

* * *

Kirche Von Zerbst was the kind of person to feel pride in a lot of things. She felt pride in how she dressed, how smooth her skin was, how large her breasts were, how she has dozens of male students (and a few females) wrapped around her finger, how skilled she is in Fire magic and etcetera.

Among the list of things is the pride she feels in Tabitha. Tabitha is a straight A student, the very textbook example of a genius. Her spellwork was exemplary and her calculative mind had no equal among others in her grade and above. Teachers praised her for her intuitive mind and other students held envy for the silent bookworm.

Yes, Kirche felt a lot of pride for her friend. Which is why Tabitha's latest achievement had the redheaded Germanian beaming a brilliant smile as she hugged the smaller bluenette.

"I'm so proud of you! You managed to summon such an amazing looking familiar! He even matches you perfectly, what with color scheme and element!" Kirche exclaimed with her arms wrapped tightly around the bespectacled bookworm.

"Crrnt...brrth..." Tabitha mumbled out, her voice muffled as her face was lodged deep in Kirche's bosom.

"Miss Zerbst..." an elderly voice called out. Kirche directed her attention to the teacher watching over the summoning ritual, Professor Jean Colbert. A bald, bespectacled and middle aged old man, he was by far one of the students' favorite teachers because he was such a kind soul, despite the fact that he usually bores them to death when he teaches simply because the subject itself is dull. Always willing to help out with a student's problems, whether it be related to schoolwork or just personal matters. In a way he's also the school's psychiatrist, as not only is he a teacher for Fire magic classes, history and sociology, he also teaches alchemy and advanced potion making to the higher grades.

He was also easy on the eyes in Kirche's personal opinion.

"As heartwarming it is to see you congratulate your friend, I think you need to let her breathe before she.. um.. Suffocates." Colbert said with an awkward smile. "Besides, it is your turn to summon a familiar."

"Oh, right!" Kirche chirps as she releases Tabitha from her bosom. The redhead turns to look at her friend's silent familiar, standing tall near the two, staring at the interaction curiously with a tilted head, not unlike the way a bird would. "Looks like you're gonna get a friend soon!"

"..." Alcorzar simply blinks slowly before nodding once. A bit unnerved, Kirche smiles anyway at the strange being before turning and walking to the summoning circle. "Wish me luck Tabby."

"Unneeded..." was the quiet reply.

Kirche stands proudly in front of the summoning circle as she flicks her wand out and raises her arms in a manner befitting a maestro before chanting loudly, her voice full of fire and excitement.

 _"Hear me out, oh familiar spirit! Guardian being and partner for life! Heed this summoning and answer me! I wish to summon a being that matches my soul, a partner who will guard my back with a fire in its soul that burns as bright as the sun!"_

The runes on the summoning array begin to light up, glowing a bright red this time. Kirche was sweating a bit but her lips had a confident smirk as she continued chanting.

 _"If such a being exists out there in the universe, then answer my call!"_

With that, the summoning array burst into smoke.

And a pillar of flames erupted from the center of it.

Kirche nearly leapt out of her skin as she stared at the tall pillar of roaring flames. The students were scampering to get further away from the intense heat. Only she and Professor Colbert were still in their places, mostly unaffected by the heat. "Brimir's balls, did I just summon a Dragon!?"

Next to Tabitha, Alcorzar began to hiss as he backed up, his cloak ruffling a bit and expanding slightly, his emerald green eyes narrowed. Tabitha turned her head from the heat to look at her familiar with concern. "Too hot?"

"...this... heat...strong..." The insectoid familiar hissed out.

Kirche was standing still, her eyes wide in surprise as the flames began to die down and the smoke began to clear. She could see something glowing from the inside of it.

And it certainly wasn't a Dragon. The silhouette... was humanoid.

"What the heck happened!? Where the heck am I!?"

Much more humanoid than she could have thought.

As the smoke cleared, she gazed upon the being she summoned.

Fire personified. That's all she could think of.

The being was humanoid, standing roughly at her height level, maybe a few inches taller. Its body appeared to be made of glowing lava, with dark red volcanic rocks covering most of its glowing body like armor. The dark red rock covered its torso, arms and legs, leaving only its head, hands and feet exposed. There were crevices and cracks in parts of the armor, revealing the glowing lava within.

Despite the armor, its figure was quite slim. Adding to its humanoid frame was five fingers on each hand, thumbs included. Its feet however held only two protrusions that were probably toes, each one curving slightly to face its twin.

Its head was the most interesting sight. Bright flames like a torch billowing behind a single mask made out of the same stone covering its body. Kirche could vaguely make out an outline of a head in the flames. The mask was quite tribal, bearing rectangular yet slightly curved eye sockets with a single glowing line of lava going down from the bottom of each eye and down to the cheeks. Its lips were a single glowing line stretching across where the mouth would be and curving so each end went down to the bottom of each cheek, connecting with the tear trail from the eyes.

And apparently the rocky face was not as solid and static as she thought, because the glowing pupiless eyes immediately narrowed and the mouth opened partially in a snarl as it pointed at her.

"You! Female! Who are you and where the hell am I!?" it shouted in a male voice, sounding like it was around her age. "One moment I'm just relaxing on Pyros and drinking lava like every other guy would on the weekend and suddenly bam! I'm spinning across the galaxy in a tunnel of light and I end up here! Start explaining before I torch you!"

'Whoa, he's pissed!' Kirche exclaimed mentally before smiling. "My name is Kirche Von Zerbst, youngest of the Zerbst family. We are currently in the country of Tristain in the land of Halkeginia. I have summoned you here to be my familiar!"

"The heck is a familiar?"

"Basically a partner for life who will help me and stay by my side till the day I eventually die." Kirche summarized. She then noted the bright yellow glow beginning to develop on the being's cheeks.

"W-wha-you mean marriage!?" he exclaimed in shock.

With that, Kirche burst out laughing.

"Hey hey, that's not funny! I can't get married yet, I'm not even 20 yet!" the flaming being said with a paranoid tone.

"Oh God, my stomach!" Kirche said as she laughed. True, if you thought about it, the definition of familiar could be likened to marriage. The reason it isn't is because when you summon a familiar, it's usually an animal. Not something intelligent and humanoid. "It's not marriage silly, it's more like an eternal servant or bodyguard. Maybe even pet."

"Oh thank-wait, servant? Pet!? ARE YOU A SLAVER OR SOMETHING!?" the burning creature exclaimed in horror.

"Oh no no no, you misunderstand!" This time Colbert decided to intervene, stepping next to Kirche who was still trying not to laugh. "You see, here at this academy we have an annual event where second year students can attempt to summon their own familiar, which is a partner as Miss Zerbst said. Usually familiars range from common animals to magical creatures. This is the second time we've seen a humanoid and intelligent being be summoned."

"Oh... oh praise the sun, I thought I was gonna end up stuck in a slave ring or something..." the humanoid being said as he wiped his forehead and then proceeding to flick his lava sweat off his face, the droplets landing on the grass near the summoning circle and causing a small fire to start. He noticed though and then turned to look at the fire before inhaling, the flames swirling off the grass and into his open mouth.

Colbert and Kirche eyed this in awe. This being was the perfect familiar for a Fire mage. It was made of lava and radiated intense heat and it could absorb flames, meaning it could be the ultimate weapon of one Fire mage and the greatest enemy of another. This fact intrigued Colbert and amazed Kirche.

"Umm.. I don't suppose I could ask you to...uh... summon another familiar instead of me?" The fiery creature asked, shocking the two humans, a slight look of hurt flashing across Kirche's face. "Cuz, I kinda had a nice life going on back at home. No worries and no trouble."

"I-I'm afraid we can't sir. You see, each student can only summon a familiar once. Once it's summoned, there is no way to return it without either the familiar or the master dying." Colbert said, causing the being of brimstone to slump.

"Ah man, and I don't want to die and I'm no killer... great... can you at least tell me which star system I'm in?"

"Star... system?" Kirche repeated, confused.

"Yeah you know, like which planet is this and where the nearest space station is."

"Space... station?" both Kirche and Colbert repeated at the same time.

"...please tell me your kind has developed space ships."

"What on earth are you talking about? People can't go into space, that's impossible." Kirche said with a raised brow."

"...I'm never gonna leave this planet..." the being muttered as he slumped to the ground. "I'll never see my nice home in Pyros again..."

"I-I am truly sorry." The bald professor said as he knelt next to the now depressed alien. "B-but I'm afraid we need to move along and have Miss Zerbst complete the ritual. We can discuss your situation at a later date."

"...fine... it's not like I had much to do at home anyway..." the being muttered as he stood up. "Alright then, do your little thingy. Complete the ritual or whatever."

"R-right then." Kirche said, unnerved and confused by the recent turn of events. "Ahem. My name is Kirche Augusta Von Zerbst. Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers, bless this being and make him my familiar." Kirche then lit her wand's tip with a small flame, surprising the being as she tapped him on the forehead a few times.

"How did you do that?"

"Magic. No, don't give me that look, I'm serious. Now then, for this next part, I need you to lower your temperature as low as you can. I don't want to burn myself doing this."

"Right." The alien's flaming head wavered and shrunk a bit as his brightly glowing body dimmed slightly, the air around him cooling as his body went to safer levels of heat. "There, you can touch me now, just try not to keep your skin in contact with anything glowing for too long or you'll start feeling the burn."

"Thanks.. um, what's your name?"

"I'm Hamon."

"Right, thank you Hamon. Now then." Kirche then grinned as she stepped up to him and pressed her lips against his mouth, causing his eyes to widen comically and his cheeks to glow bright yellow. Kirche then stepped back with a smirk as she laid her hands on her hips. "There we go, you're now my familiar. I would have used tongue but I'm not sure if you have one solid enough to make a difference and I didn't want to burn myself."

Hamon's eyes widened a bit further, the flames around his head billowing hard as his lava blush increased in intensity. He could feel a tingle on his back, but his attention was focused on the human in front of him. "W-what the heck!? Y-you don't just go around kissing aliens like that lady! Why the heck did you do that!?" He exclaimed in shock as the familiar runes carved themselves on his back.

"It was to complete the contract, silly! And besides, I am also known as Kirche the Ardent Flame. I love the element of fire and I love men. Lo and behold, a being that is both of those combined into one." Kirche narrowed her eyes mischievously. "And he's inexperienced too from the looks of it. I'm going to enjoy spending the rest of my life with you around hotshot."

"...a xenophiliac, I swear to the Sun, it just had to be a xenophiliac..." Hamon muttered.

"Congratulations Miss Zerbst, you have completed the contract! You may now take your place next to your friend and her familiar again." Colbert said with a smile. Kirche nodded and then turned around to walk to Tabitha, Hamon following her, grumbling. The students staring wide-eyed at her and the flaming familiar, whispering to each other in awe and wonder.

"I did it Tabby, I summoned a familiar! And he's perfect for me, just like Alcorzar is perfect for you!" Kirche exclaimed as she glomped Tabitha, who rolled her eyes before turning to look at Hamon.

Hamon regarded the bluenette with a raised brow before raising a hand and waving a bit. "Hi?"

Tabitha nodded once before Kirche let go of her. The bluenette pushed up her skewed glasses. "Tabitha."

"Err.. Hamon."

Tabitha nodded before turning to her right. "Alcorzar."

Hamon followed her line of sight... and froze (pun intended).

He found himself staring at a fellow alien who stood way taller than him, its green eyes staring into his hot yellow ones.

"Holy crap, a Necrofriggian." Hamon exclaimed in shock before turning to Kirche. "You didn't tell me I wasn't the only alien here!"

"What do you mean? You are both elementals aren't you?" Kirche asked with a raised eye brow.

"Didn't you hear me before? I'm an alien! I'm not from this planet! Neither is this guy." Hamon said, pointing at Alcorzar. "He's a Necrofriggian, a species of space faring migratory mothmen. I'm a Pyronite, a species of fire beings that live on Pyros. We're from outer space."

"Outer... space..." Tabitha muttered in awe as she stared at her familiar. No wonder she's never seen or heard of anything like him before. He's not from this land. He's from beyond the stars.

"Are you telling me there are more of you guys out there?" Kirche asked with an excited grin. "That's amazing!"

"Ahem!"

They turned to look at Colbert who had a hand raised to his mouth as he cleared his throat. "As interesting as your discussion may be, could you all please keep it down? We still have one more student who needs to summon her familiar." Colbert said as he turned his head to somewhere else in the crowd.

"Last student? I thought everyone already-oh, her." Kirche said, slapping her forehead a bit. "I nearly forgot about her... Oh boy, here we go."

"What? What's so bad about this last student?" Hamon asked, curious.

"Let's just say every spell she's ever done has ended badly."

"How bad?"

"They all end up with an explosion." Kirche said with a small grimace. Hamon and Alcorzar's eyes both widen a bit at that.

"...that's... bad." Alcorzar said slowly. Hamon nodded next to him.

Whatever reply Kirche was going to say was cut off as Colbert raised his voice.

"Now then, come up please, Miss Valliere."

Shuffling through the crowd nervously, a short girl with short pink hair that covered her pink eyes a bit stepped up, her hands gripping the hem of her skirt as she bit her lip.

"O-okay..."

* * *

 ** _Well, that was the second chapter. It's pretty predictable, a Pyronite would be the most fitting familiar for Kirche. Next up is Louise's familiar._**

 ** _I would also like to point out that Louise will be... a bit different in this fic, in case you couldn't tell. Probably not in a good way for her. More about that will be revealed in the next chapter, but I will tell you now that she will not be as loud as she is in canon._**

 ** _Anyhow... I hope you all enjoyed that chapter. It's fun typing this story so far. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy making it._**


	3. Chapter 3

**_-A.N: It's at this point that I realize I gave Hamon five fingers when Pyronite's have only four. My bad. ^^'_**

* * *

Chapter 3: The Emptiest Shadow.

Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Valliere wasn't a happy person.

Far from it. She was actually pretty miserable.

At Tristain's academy of magic, if you ask students about someone by the name of Louise then one of these two different reactions will follow. The first is a look of amusement as the students snicker to each other.

The second is a look of annoyance and scorn.

Louise was quite popular. Not in a good way.

Since day one of school, nay, day one of her lifetime of trying to do magic, her spells always failed horrendously. No matter what spell she used, they always blew up in her face quite literally. Sometimes they were mild explosions, sometimes they were intense enough to damage most of the classroom and even some students, herself included.

When her spells backfire, her wand remains mostly unscathed aside from some charring, but her hand is a different story. Even now, her right hand is still covered in various marks from old burns and scars caused by the explosions.

While most of the students take amusement in how she constantly fails her spells, the ones caught in the actual explosions feel nothing but ire towards her.

The ones who laugh and the ones who glare. Those two kinds of students are the ones that mock and antagonize her.

Even some of her own family falls into that category. Oh her sister Cattleya was a sweet soul, and she wouldn't ever mock Louise for her lack of talent in magic, but the rest of her family was another story. Her sister Eleanor would glare and mock her for failing even the simplest of spells and her mother would just give her a disappointed look and then make comments about how she wouldn't have much of a future if this kept up. Her father barely spent enough time at home to make a difference, but Louise knows that he is disappointed in her failures with spellcraft.

Verbal abuse isn't the end of it. There was physical abuse as well.

Once, a small group of students, two boys and three girls, ganged up on her after classes to mock her and other clichés for bullies. It escalated when one of the female students grabbed a lock of Louise's long hair and began talking about how Louise was such a loser, she didn't deserve such pretty hair.

So they began cutting Louise's hair themselves.

Of course, one of the professors caught sight of this act and stopped them before sending them straight to the headmaster. The students were given a warning not to attempt bullying Louise again or they would be suspended.

However they carried on anyway, making sure no teachers were in sight when they did so, like at night time. They had to limit themselves to mostly verbally abusing the pinkette though, hurting her physically would raise questions if people saw the bruises on Louise's skin. Which is why they made sure to hit her where nobody would notice, such as the back, abdomen or her right arm, where the burns would disguise the bruises. They threatened to do worse if she ever told anyone.

Louise had little to no confidence and was already rather sheltered. Adding the bullies just made it worse. She decided to keep her hair short so nobody would grab at it again but kept her bangs long enough so it would cover most of her eyes, drawing attention away from the dark rings she had under her eyes from lack of sleep. She wore a longer cloak around her uniform to cover up her entire body so nobody would stare at the burns on her hand and so they wouldn't catch even a glimpse of her bruises.

Yes, Louise wasn't a happy person.

And today was no exception.

The familiar summoning ritual was one of the days she dreaded the most. She feared how badly she would screw up such an important event by failing the summoning spell. So when Colbert called her name, she felt a growing pit of unease in her stomach.

"O-okay..." Louise began walking up to the summoning circle. As per usual when her name is called out for anything, students began snickering and whispering.

"Oh boy, time to move back a bit."

"The Zero? She'll probably kill her familiar instead of summon it!"

"Tch, what a loser. Why is she even here?"

Louise bit her lip as she heard a few of the comments and the nickname she was branded with. Zero.

Because she had Zero confidence, Zero talent, Zero friends, Zero hope.

As she stood in front of the summoning array, Colbert flashed her a small smile. He was by far the only teacher who still supported her. All the others had already lost hope. She smiled back weakly. It felt good to her, knowing that there was still one person in the school who had her back.

The students continued whispering amongst each other as Louise brought her wand out of her cloak and raised it. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she began chanting. She needed to put all of her effort into this.

 _"Hear me out, familiar spirit!"_ She exclaimed. The students began growing confused looks.

"What is she doing, is she using a different chant?"

"That's stupid, she must be making her own up."

The summoning chant was something that remained static, it was always the same. It began with set words and ended with set words. The only words you could customize in the chant were in the middle of the spell, where you describe what you were looking for in a familiar.

 _"Oh powerful being of unrivaled strength, somewhere out there in the universe! I need a familiar that fears nothing and can defeat any opponent!"_

Yes, how she wanted such a familiar. A familiar which was her polar opposite.

 _"A familiar who can stay by my side in life and in death! A familiar who will always be there to help me! A familiar that knows the pain of being alone! A familiar... a familiar who can be my friend!"_ Louise shouted as she chanted.

"Valliere..." Kirche muttered, a look of pity on her face as she sat with Tabitha and the two aliens. "You poor thing.."

"Fragile..." Alcorzar muttered. "Fragile.. heart... like... glass."

Tabitha nodded, agreeing with her familiar's comment. Hamon said nothing as he stared at the pink haired girl who was pouring her soul out into the summoning as the runic array in front of her began lighting up with a white glow as it hummed with power.

Some of the students began snickering to each other, some began actually pitying the pain in Louise's voice. Despite the varying reactions they were showing, they all knew one thing. Louise could never hope to summon a familiar because her summoning chant was incorrect and her spells always failed.

However... contrary to their belief, there was one familiar that could answer her call... from across the galaxy, in a different star system, a different planet.

* * *

On a different planet, a single grey figure was darting among alleyways in a dark metropolis, the sound of stomping feet following it. It was raining purple precipitation that evaporated into some sort of steam as the droplets hit solid objects.

Not this being though. Every drop slipped through its body seamlessly, as if he wasn't there at all.

The grey clad being narrowed glowing pink eyes as it escaped from the ones following it. There was a dead end up ahead. Perfect.

The figures following him halted in their spot in confusion as the being they were chasing went through the wall in front of them.

The grey figure mentally smirked as it exited through the other side of the wall.

And then something pierced its back, pinning it to the ground.

It's growled out in pain as it was held in place by a glowing hot white spear. It tried wriggling free as the sound of beating wings descended upon the alleyway. Suddenly four more spears pierced its body, one through each arm and two more around its torso. Glowing pink eyes widened in alarm and pain as the owner of the flapping wings landed several meters in front of him, dark silver armor with green highlights covering its entire body, a pair of glowing white eyes glaring out from a helmet styled after a knight's. A pair of huge angelic wings sprouted from its back.

 **"This ends here, foul creature. You have evaded us for too long. Your brother may have evaded our sight for years, but killing you will surely flush him out."** The figure said with a female voice full of spite as she raised a gauntlet clad hand, a spear of light shuddering into existence in her palm.

The trapped figure struggled as he tried to break free. 'Not like this... NOT LIKE THIS!'

 _"Hear me out, familiar spirit!"_

The figure froze, as it heard the unfamiliar voice.

 _"Oh powerful being of unrivaled strength, somewhere out there in the universe! I need a familiar that fears nothing and can defeat any opponent!"_

The being with pink eyes were wide with confusion as it heard the voice. A familiar? What was that? Was this voice... a little girl from the sound of it... asking for some sort of guardian? The winged being in front of it wasn't reacting to the voice, could she not hear it?

'Is... is she calling out to me? ME? Why?' the pink eyed being thought as it began to slump in its place, no longer paying attention to the armored woman walking towards it.

 _"A familiar who can stay by my side in life and in death! A familiar who will always be there to help me! A familiar that knows the pain of being alone! A familiar... a familiar who can be my friend!"_

Pink eyes widen as the being hears those words. This person... was also in pain. She was alone...

'Just... like me?"

The grey clad being began feeling a pull on its body. The pull was weak but it felt... odd. Like it was waiting for something.

 _"If you exist... somewhere out there in the universe... then please... please! Heed my call!"_

The armored being stood right in front of it, raising her arm as she prepared to bring down her spear. **"This is the end for you."**

"No... It isn't..." the pink eyed being whispered as it felt the pull... and relaxed into it. 'I don't know who you are... but I won't let a chance like this slip by.'

The winged woman's eyes widen in shock as a green glow envelops her target and then promptly vanishes right in front of her, taking the injured being with it.

All that was left in the alleyway was a single raging figure with a spear of light and the sound of purple rain.

* * *

An explosion occurred, as the students expected. And it was by far the most intense one Louise has ever produced, completely covering the summoning circle and blasting her back, her own wand exploding into pieces in the process, causing her to cry out in pain as she flew back, only for Colbert to catch her. Smoke billowed from the explosion, spreading out as the students coughed from inhaling some.

"Whoa, that was *cough* crazy! I haven't seen one that bad before!" Kirche exclaimed, trying to wave away the smoke. To her, and most of the students' surprise, a gust of cold wind began blowing the smoke around them away. She turned to look at Tabitha's familiar, who had his mouth parted slightly before closing it.

Louise was gritting her teeth as she cradled her right hand, which was now practically charred from her latest failure. Tears were threatening to spill from her eyes.

"Here, let me see that..." Colbert said as he pulled a vial from his voluminous robes. He uncorked it and poured half of the contents onto her hand, causing the pain to lessen as a cool sensation enveloped it. "It should hurt less now."

"Thank you..." Louise muttered as she bit her lip. "I... I failed again..."

"I'll say!" one of the students shouted from the crowd, several others shouting in agreement as they began chattering again.

"Settle down!" Colbert exclaimed, a tint of anger in his voice as he stood up. Louise sat on the floor next to him, tears trailing down from her eyes as the students jeered.

"I.. really am a zero..."

Kirche watched this with a sad look as she turned to Tabitha. "We should go and check up on her."

The bluenette raised a brow. "Why?"

"What do you mean 'why'!? Look at the poor girl!"

"Not that. Why now? This is new." Tabitha corrected, pushing up her glasses.

"I..." Kirche started before realizing Tabitha was right.

Kirche hardly interacted with Louise at all. When she did it was just little pokes of teasing. Louise however kept her distance from Kirche. Saying that her mother said the Valliere family were the Zerbst family's enemies. WHY had Kirche never tried checking up on Louise before?

Hamon whistled a bit before turning to Alcorzar. "That was one big explosion. By human standards at least." He then raised a rocky brow as he noticed something odd about his fellow alien. "What's up with you?

The Necrofriggian was standing ramrod straight, its eyes narrowed and almost glowing as it stared right at where the summoning circle was supposed to be, now just a smoking crater. "Something... isn't right..." He then took a deep breath and exhaled a blast of cold air right at the crater, surprising the students and Colbert as he began clearing away the smoke.

The crater was revealed, a large three meter hole in the ground. There was still small traces of smoke too, but that wasn't what caught their eyes.

Something was floating above it. Something transparent, almost invisible.

The partially invisible outline began slowly approaching Louise, causing her breath to catch in her throat.

Slowly, the figure began losing its transparency, becoming completely visible.

And many of the students screamed in horror.

It was a monster. A wraith. A demon. There were many words that could be used to describe it but inhuman was the best. The being was vaguely humanoid, it had a torso and a pair of arms shaped like a man's. That was where the human resemblance ended.

Its body was covered with some sort of grey material that looked like skin. Its upper body was that of a lanky human male's, almost skeletal as the material had the outline of ribs on it. The material covering its body had multiple dark gaps in it for some strange reason, like cracks in pavement. Several odd straps and buckles like the ones on a straitjacket were hanging from its collarbone, below the ribs and various other places. The material covering its arms were a bit baggy and voluminous, like the sleeves of a robe. The sleeves had the same odd straps and buckles on them. Each arm had a single hand with four abnormally long fingers tipped with sharp claws, thumbs included. Each finger was roughly twice as long as a normal human's.

Its lower body was a single wispy trail of the grey material, like a tail, making the figure appear more phantom-like. The tail was roughly half a meter long.

Its head was completely covered by the material like a mask, a metal collar around its neck with a 10 inch chain hanging from it. Where its mouth was, a single zipper line was extended, a zipper hanging from the end of the right side.

Its eyes were fixated inside a dark gap in the grey material that slit across its face and then went down its neck and joined with the crisscrossing pattern of gaps. The pair of glowing eyes with pink sclera and tiny dilated black pupils. The eyes were strangely uneven, the left bigger than the right and the right eye wasn't on the right side of the gap but instead was in the dead center.

This thing looked like a nightmare from an insane asylum. And it was staring right at Louise.

"...so... you are the one?" a breathy voice, sounding like a whisper, came from the wraith-like being, shocking the students. Louise was trembling in fear but she slowly nodded shakily.

Then, the zipper line on the being's face curved into a small smile as it floated closer to Louise, bending its back lower until it was eye level with her. "Don't be scared of me... I wouldn't hurt you..." the creature smiled wider. "You saved my life after all."

"H-huh?" Louise blinked in shock. "I-I what?"

"I was about to die... and you saved my life, little one. By calling out to me, I was saved from a humiliating death. And I am one who always pays people back." The being straightened up. "So... I will fulfill your wishes."

"M-my wishes?" Louise repeated.

"Yes... you wanted someone strong... someone who feared nothing... someone who would stay by your side forever... someone who could be your friend, correct?"

Louise's eyes widened. Her classmates and teacher forgotten, all she could see and hear right now was the being in front of her. "A-are you..."

"My name is Tar'Rhor. I am your... what was the term you used? I believe it was... familiar."

* * *

 ** _So, now Louise has summoned her familiar._**

 ** _As you can see, Louise in this story is quite different indeed from canon Louise. She's quieter, has short hair and is a victim of verbal and physical bullying. I have nothing against canon Louise but... I'd like to see how I can go as I type this story with a different Louise instead of canon Louise._**

 ** _Now then, as for her familiar... I'm sure you all can figure out exactly WHAT he is._**

 ** _I'm happy that I got a few positive reviews for this. Especially a particularly long one from a guest._**

 ** _I am aware that the five elements include water, not ice. I originally pondered on having Tabitha summon a_** _ **Piscciss Volann, but in the end I thought a Necrofriggian would suit her better.**_

 ** _A few readers would probably wonder who the story would be focused on in terms of POV. It will switch alternating between focusing on Tabitha, Kirche and finally Louise, along with their familiars. I hope I can alternate evenly between them.._**

 ** _And I do have a plan for where the story is going, no need to worry. But for now, we will follow canon._**

 ** _Well, if anyone has any questions or concerns about the story, feel free to PM me._**

 ** _Until next chapter then. Toodles~ ^^_**


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